The Philadelphia Phillies top pitching prospects saw their immediate futures take an interesting turn this past week when the team signed Carlos Zambrano to a minor league contract.

With Roy Halladay and John Lannan on the disabled list, pitchers such as Adam Morgan, Tyler Cloyd and Ethan Martin seemed like the top options for filling a rotation spot.

However, after Cloyd’s upcoming start, it could be Zambrano who gets the next chance to fill a rotation spot. This would keep Morgan and Martin in Triple-A to work on recent struggles, as they try and achieve positive results with more consistency.

But what about the chances for the Phillies other top-10 prospects, according to Baseball America, of reaching the major leagues soon?

Let’s take a look at which players’ stock is up and which of them are down following Week 7.

Notable Performances

The following players are not currently considered top-10 prospects for the Phillies, but had notable performances this past week nonetheless:

Triple-A (Lehigh Valley): Cesar Hernandez, 2B

Cesar Hernandez currently has the highest batting average on the Phillies Triple-A squad. The second baseman picked up five hits this past week, including a double and a triple, and also drew four walks. Hernandez has the tenth-highest average in the International League, and is tied for the third-highest number of hits.

Double-A (Reading): Jim Murphy, 1B

Jim Murphy, at 27 years old, is by no means considered a top prospect—or any type of prospect for that matter. However, he did collect eight hits in 21 at-bats this past week, including two home runs. While the top prospects at Double-A are still looking for success, Murphy had a fine week, as he also drove in six runs.

High-A (Clearwater): Nick Hernandez, SP

Nick Hernandez, a 2009 draft pick, pitched eight innings while walking one and giving up one earned run. He took a no-decision, but now has 50 strikeouts on the season compared to 16 walks.

Low-A (Lakewood): Mitch Walding, 3B

Mitch Walding picked up seven hits this past week, but closed out the week with back-to-back multi-hit games. Three of these hits went for doubles, and he also drove in three runs. Walding also only struck out three times during the week.

If Howard winds up spending time on the disabled list, Ruf could earn a promotion from Triple-A, not as an outfielder—the position he’s been attempting to improve at since late last season—but rather as a first baseman.

7. Cody Asche, 3B

Cody Asche had a solid week at Triple-A, but his average is slightly down from where it stood at the beginning of the week.

In 30 at-bats, Asche had eight hits, including his fourth home run of the season. However, he also had five strikeouts and drew just one walk.

Asche’s average this month is currently .278, although he is batting .188 in 32 at-bats against left-handed pitchers.

He is also tied for ninth in total strikeouts in the International League.

All in all, Asche’s Week 7 performance was enough to keep his stock from dipping, but it wouldn’t hurt if he was able to raise his average closer to .280 or .290 range, as he attempts to take over third base next season for the Phillies.

5. Adam Morgan, LHP

Adam Morgan’s string of poor outings continued this past week, although his most recent outing had an interesting note.

Morgan gave up 10 runs in 3.1 innings in his start this past week, but only three of these were earned runs. However, he also struck out just one batter, meaning that he has three total strikeouts in his last two starts.

The left-hander’s earned run total this season is already nearly half his total from all of last season, even though he has made nearly one-third the number of starts he made last season.

Opponents are also batting .283 against him.

Morgan should be given time to work on his game in Triple-A, but following Carlos Zambrano’s signing, it appears as if a promotion to the major leagues this season just became more difficult.

4. Jonathan Pettibone, RHP

Jonathan Pettibone just keeps getting the job done from the fifth spot in the rotation.

In two starts this past week, Pettibone struck out seven total batters while walking five. However, he also gave up no more than two earned runs in either of his starts, both of which the Phillies won.

During his first start of the week, Pettibone gave up two earned runs in the second inning, before walking and hitting two batters in the third. However, he managed to get out of the third inning without giving up a run.

In Sunday’s game (May 19), Pettibone pitched seven innings for the first time in his major league career, and gave up just one earned run.

It’s uncertain if he can keep this up, or if all of these hits and double plays will eventually turn into more runs, but for now, Pettibone has done a solid job while filling in for John Lannan.